Mon, 07/30/2012 - 19:28

Saratoga pick six carryover at $239K for Wednesday

Several long prices in Monday's pick-six sequence at Saratoga, which started with a $66,254 carryover, resulted in a double carryover of $239,114 into Wednesday's pick six at the Saratoga Springs, N.Y., track. The sequence will start with Wednesday's fifth race, and two of its legs are $100,000 stakes for New York-breds, the Fleet Indian and the John Morrissey.

On Monday's card, longshot wins by Rosa Salvaje ($41.40) in the $100,000 Shakespeare Caress Stakes and Countknickerbocker ($48.60) in the nightcap guaranteed that the carryover would extend another day.

Mon, 07/30/2012 - 19:16

Saratoga: Lady On the Run back quickly in Fleet Indian

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. -- While Saginaw returns off a 65-day layoff in Wednesday's co-featured John Morrissey Stakes at Saratoga, Lady On the Run wheels back on just 10 days’ rest in the $100,000 Fleet Indian. After running twice in 17 days in May, Lady On the Run was away for two months before winning the Arctic Queen at Finger Lakes on July 21. Trainer John Morrison said he basically treated that as a workout for Lady On the Run, who ran six furlongs in 1:11.45.

Mon, 07/30/2012 - 17:55

Saratoga: Rosa Salvaje appropriate winner of Shakespeare Caress

Barbara D. Livingston
Rosa Salvaje (10) is able to hold off Holiday for Kitten (5) to win the Shakespeare Caress Stakes.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. - Monday’s inaugural running of the $100,000 Shakespeare Caress Stakes was sponsored by William Schettine’s Signature Stallions. So it was only fitting that the race was won by Schettine’s Rosa Salvaje, one of only two New York-breds in the field, who held off a late bid from Holiday for Kitten to register a game neck decision as the second longest price in the field at odds of 19-1.

Mon, 07/30/2012 - 16:44

Saratoga notes: Currency Swap, Doctor Chit likely to rematch in King's Bishop

Tom Keyser
Currency Swap, winner of the Amsterdam Stakes, will make his next start in the King's Bishop.

It appears the first two finishers in Sunday’s Amsterdam, Currency Swap and Doctor Chit, could be headed for a rematch later this month in the Grade 1 King’s Bishop.

Trainer Terri Pompay said the King’s Bishop would be the most logical choice for Currency Swap’s next start, especially considering his affinity for the Saratoga surface, over which he’s perfect in three starts.

Mon, 07/30/2012 - 16:38

Saratoga: Winter Memories sets sights on Breeders' Cup Filly and Mare Turf

Tom Keyser
Winter Memories, winner of Saturday's Grade 1 Diana, will be pointed to the Breeders’ Cup Filly and Mare Turf.

Winter Memories turned in the best race of her career to capture the Grade 1 Diana here Saturday. It also was a performance that may have helped trainer James Toner shape the course he’ll take with his star filly the remainder of the year.

Winter Memories rallied from off the pace and overcame a little lapse in focus near midstretch to register a 1 1/2-length decision over the European invader Dream Peace in the 1 1/8-mile Diana. Winter Memories received a 100 Beyer Speed Figure, the first time she’s cracked triple digits in her 12-race career.

Mon, 07/30/2012 - 16:35

Saratoga: Paynter going for Haskell-Travers double

Bill Denver/Equi-Photo
Paynter will try to become the first horse since Point Given in 2001 to win both the Haskell and Travers.

As much as he has dominated the Haskell Invitational at Monmouth Park, trainer Bob Baffert has had mixed results with a smaller sample size in the Travers Stakes at Saratoga.

Baffert won his third straight Haskell – and sixth overall – on Sunday with Paynter, the Belmont Stakes runner-up who came from just off the pace to dominate the $1 million race by 3 3/4 lengths. Now, Baffert will be in search of his second Travers victory when he sends Paynter as well as Jim Dandy third-place finisher Liaison to the $1 million Mid-Summer Derby on Aug. 25.

Mon, 07/30/2012 - 16:02

Del Mar: Law Dog follows unusual path to Graduation Stakes

DEL MAR, Calif. – Although well-traveled 2-year-old Law Dog has not broken any rules, he and the family that owns him are bending tradition.

First of all, Law Dog was not expected to mature so soon.

“The Unusual Heats, you don’t see many of them that are precocious and get started real early,” trainer Tevis McCauley said.

And yet here is Law Dog, three starts into his career and already one of the favorites in a Del Mar stakes Wednesday – the $100,000 Graduation Stakes for California-bred or -sired 2-year-olds.

Mon, 07/30/2012 - 14:56

Saratoga: Saginaw back with own kind in John Morrissey

Barbara D. Livingston
Saginaw, who last raced in the Met Mile, looks to return to his winning ways in the Morrissey.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – The clock struck midnight on Saginaw’s rags-to-riches story when he finished last in the Grade 1 Metropolitan Handicap at Belmont Park on May 28.

Wednesday, the former claimer gets back to reality when he squares off against seven New York-breds in the $100,000 John Morrissey Stakes at Saratoga.

The Morrissey, run at 6 1/2 furlongs, is the co-feature on a 10-race card that also includes the $100,000 Fleet Indian Stakes for New York-bred fillies and mares at seven furlongs.

Mon, 07/30/2012 - 14:46

Saratoga: Whitney contenders Fort Larned and Endorsement each get in a final work

Barbara D. Livingston
Endorsement gets his final work in on Monday before Saturday's Whitney.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. – Two of the nine likely starters for Saturday’s Grade 1 Whitney, Fort Larned and Endorsement, got in their final work for the race over a fast main track here Monday. One went a little too fast, one went a little too slow, but in the end both camps were pleased with what they saw and looking forward to a big performance from their horse this weekend.

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Mon, 07/30/2012 - 14:45

Saratoga: My Miss Aurelia sharp in Sunday work

Barbara D. Livingston
My Miss Aurelia works six furlongs in 1:13.03 on Sunday morning over the Oklahoma training track.

My Miss Aurelia, last year’s champion 2-year-old filly, worked a sharp six furlongs in 1:13.03 on Sunday morning over the Oklahoma training track as she gets closer to her 3-year-old debut.

Under exercise rider Carlos Rosas, My Miss Aurelia went her first quarter in 25.20 seconds, the half-mile in 49.65, and she galloped out seven-eighths in 1:27.32.

“Her last three moves have been consistently better,” trainer Steve Asmussen said. “We thought she needed a good breeze like she got this morning. I’m extremely pleased with how she did it and how she came back.”